Striper Shut Out

[Gerry Zagorski]

Truth in reporting so you have to post the good trips and the bad and this one was the latter...

Got our with Joe, Gen, Mike K and my wife for an after work Striper trip with high hopes... Winds were light all day but wouldn't you know the south wind kicked up just before we left the dock 4:30...

Decided not to head down the beach with the south wind kicking and since we were short on time, we trolled the bay from Belford to Keansburg with the fleet and I didn't see one net go over including ours.

Trolled the whole time with Mojos, metal lipped plugs and a 9ers hoping to spot some bunker or to see some decent marks to set up and cast on. No real great marks to stop on an too windy to spot bunker.

Just before the sunset we made a few drifts for fluke in the shallows before heading in to no avail.

Super high tide in the marina a few inches from the top of the bulkhead when we got back... I wonder if that had anything to do with it or do I just suck?

[dales529]

Truth in reporting / Thanks
As we have discussed its a privilege to be able to get out there catch or not.
South wind killer as always! At least you were out with family and friends!
You dont suck its just fishing. If you went out alone it would have been a slammer and no one would believe you

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by dales529

Truth in reporting / Thanks
As we have discussed its a privilege to be able to get out there catch or not.
South wind killer as always! At least you were out with family and friends!
You dont suck its just fishing. If you went out alone it would have been a slammer and no one would believe you

Well I did see it was a new moon which caused and extra high tide yesterday and we fished the incoming to the top of the tide..... That could be the reason, that's my story and I'm sticking to it

[Keystonefisher]

You beat me to it Gerry…..you guys must have been following my wife and I around and your stink was covering us up. We had the EXACT same post except we were finishing up as you were heading out. Like yourself we marked next to nothing back the reach and also were unable to manage a fluke nibble from the hook back to the marina. Seabass can’t get here soon enough for me…..which I’m sure will bring 30 days of straight southeast winds.

[bulletbob]

what always confuses me me about this sort of post is this- No fish on any given day is one thing.. that just happens.. they just shut down for a period of time. However, the fact that they just seem to disappear completely always keeps me scratching my head.. I mean, the fish are there somewhere, they have to be,, One day soon they turn on and are boiling everywhere you look... I tend to think that when they go "dormant" for a day, two, or three, they just kind of lay tight to bottom or something, not moving around, and can't be readily seen even on good sonar.. Its either that, or they swim miles offshore into deeper water, out of reach, and then all of a sudden decide to swim back in the bays and eat again. I tend to think its the former.

Same thing happens here in upstate in the lakes... the fishing dies out, and at the same time, the screens that were lit up with life a day ago, are suddenly blank everywhere... Then one day, they light back up again, and fishing is good... I think a lot of game fish just "shut down", and stop moving for one reason or the other.. Cold fronts/falling barometer/ Moon faze/ temps/food availability... Never could figure a lot of this stuff out... bob

[Broad Bill]

Great trips wouldn't be great if by comparison bad trips didn't suck. "The fish will gather again for the Andria Gail", words to live by. Just don't run into 50 foot seas on the way back to port. Hard south, full moon, fish migrating etc., any day can be a bust or a boom especially this time of year with the migration and full gear. Remember stripers migrate more aggressively on full moon tides so maybe the body of fish in the bay started their northerly migration. Maybe Omega Protein or the Belford fleet came in over night and swept the area, I've seen it happen before. Either way, I'm sure the beers and cocktails were on ice and flowing, some fresh salt air in your lungs so not a bad way to end the day. Beats what I was doing!

[Duffman]

I think you just suck